POCATELLO — How would Mike Kramer sum up the game? What could he say to encapsulate 60 minutes of intense football with an ending hard to believe?
How would Kramer describe an overtime period that turned from a dream into a nightmare with one high snap and 13 seconds of, well — craziness.
How?
“There’s a lot of things about this game that were positive for us,” Kramer said, “except the final outcome.”
The final: No. 22 Montana escaped Holt Arena with a 33-27 win in extra time.
The Bengals had the Grizzlies beaten — a victory that would have snapped a nine-game losing streak to UM dating back to 2003.
ISU (2-7, 1-5 Big Sky) lined up for a 34-yard game-winning field goal in overtime. Montana (5-4, 4-2) had the ball first in the extra period, but Bengals junior linebacker Hayden Stout forced a fumble and recovered it to erase UM’s scoring opportunity.
Four plays later, Idaho State’s field goal team was on the field.
That’s a good thing.
And it was a bad thing.
Even before the ball was snapped, anyone could have pointed out the Bengals have had their issues kicking this season. Sophomore Zak Johnson entered the Montana game 3 of 6 in field goal attempts, with a season-long of 35 yards. Plus, the Bengals missed an extra-point attempt in the second quarter.
So the 34-yard boot was no sure thing. Kramer, in retrospect, said he wished he never let the game’s results fall on the special teams unit. Kramer said the Bengals were too conservative on their last offensive possession, choosing to run the ball three times, rather than taking to the air and trying to score a touchdown.
“I know we don’t win if we kick field goals. I know we don’t,” Kramer said. “So regardless of what the score is, you still have to keep striking for the end zone if you’re a passing team. And we went into four-wheel drive. And we shouldn’t have done that. So that’s my fault.”
Still, though, ISU positioned the ball right in the middle of the hashmarks. It was, essentially, a glorified extra point.
And while Johnson hasn’t been stellar, he is a second-year starter and a cool customer.
Johnson never got the chance to prove it either way.
The snap to holder Tanner Gueller was high, a shot over Gueller’s head.
“We rocked and fired it with about as much velocity as you can put on it,” Kramer said of the snap. “I’m surprised we don’t have a hole in the back side of the building.”
The out-of-control snap bounded down the field, but Gueller had a head start on the Montana defense. The redshirt freshman quarterback, who in his second career start threw for 253 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions, jumped and tried to pounce on the loose ball at the ISU 45-yard line, ending the play and sending the game to a second overtime.
“The ball got by me and that was that,” Gueller said. “I tried to go jump on it, you know. Didn’t get a good handle.”
The ball squirted free. By that time a swarm of Grizzlies were around the ball. It popped up into the air and right into the mitts of UM’s Eric Johnson.
Johnson strolled into the end zone, saving Montana’s playoff hopes and giving Idaho State its seventh loss in nine games.
In a word: heartbreaking.
“It’s just one of those things. You gotta be as big as the moment and we weren’t,” Kramer said. “And as a whole team, as 94 players and 11 coaches, we just weren’t big enough in the moment.”
It was a bitterly disappointing finish in what was one of ISU’s best performances of the season. The Bengals defense, led by senior linebacker CJ Langlow’s game-high 20 tackles, had its rough spots but competed, forced three turnovers and played well enough to allow ISU’s offense to rally from a 21-7 second-quarter deficit.
Idaho State’s defense held Montana to six points in the second half and was at its best in the red zone, where the Grizzlies were held to one touchdown in five trips.
“I felt like our defensive front seven was overwhelming their front on the run,” Kramer said. “They were finding seams and openings a little bit, but we weren’t giving away long runs like we have so far this season.”
Idaho State’s offense had its problems, both with turnovers and converting red zone trips into points. But with Gueller leading the way, the Bengals manufactured enough points to give themselves a shot.
Gueller hit junior wideout KW Williams (seven catches, 87 yards) twice for touchdown scores and senior tight end Tyler Graves (3-32) for another.
And ISU’s dormant rushing attack had one of its better games. Senior Xavier Finney had 105 yards on the ground, and junior Jakori Ford had 87 yards, including a 53-yard, fourth-quarter scamper that put ISU up 27-24 with 10:14 left in the game.
So there were positives across the board for Idaho State — from the defense, the offense, the young quarterback learning how to play Division I football.
Then there was the field goal snap that went awry, drowning ISU’s upset bid.
Gueller wasn’t fazed.
“We’re going to learn from this, from our mistakes and we’re going to get better,” he said, “We’re going to move on to the next week and just keep getting better.”
The final play ...